What do bats do at night when they’re not hunting? Using tiny GPS trackers, Leiden researchers discovered that pond bats spend a substantial portion of the night resting – often outdoors. This surprising insight could change the way we protect them.

For more than twenty years, Johan Visser has served as a family and juvenile court judge in The Hague where he is also a board member. Once a student at Leiden Law School, he reflects here on his student days and career.

Thinking about the next step in your career, networking, preparing for the labour market or possibly meeting your future employer. Over 400 students and young alumni of the Faculties Governance and Global Affairs, Humanities, and Behavioural Sciences came together last week during the Campus The Hague…

A Leiden Groningen student team has reached the European finals of the BISC-E competition. In this annual competition students have to come up with a sustainable solution to a major social problem. The team invented Suckerspheres: a natural alternative to the plastic microbeads that are still widely…

Lecture, Herta Mohr Lecture

Lecture, Herta Mohr-lezing

PhD defence

In the Pioneers of Leiden University series we talk to past and present students who were the first in their families to go to university. In this third instalment we talk to Jos Schaeken (1962) dean of the Honours Academy and Professor of Slavic and Baltic languages and Cultural History: 'I had to…

Workshop

Lecture, China Seminar

Conference

Internal networking event

Course

Lecture

Lecture, Comparative Indo-European Linguistics (CIEL) Seminars

Study information, Proefstudeerdag

Scientists from all different disciplines at Leiden University work on sustainability challenges. Together we strive for a liveable planet by connecting these scientists. Are you a researcher and do you want to contribute to tackling sustainability issues? Join our program and work together on solutions…

Globalisation means becoming globalised, a process in which material culture plays a crucial role. This is what Miguel John Versluys, the new Professor of Classical and Mediterranean Archaeology, teaches. He bases his teaching on research into the origin and growth of the Roman Empire from the 3rd…

It is the largest database for space ice yet: The Leiden Ice Database for Astrochemistry: LIDA. Created by astrophysicists at the Leiden Observatory, LIDA includes not only hundreds of measurement data, but also software to examine astronomical observations and prepare new measurements with the James…

From assistance in the event of natural disasters to peace-keeping missions. As a communication adviser, Leonoor van Poelgeest goes to all those destinations where the Royal Navy are active. Why did she choose this work and how has her Public Administration study helped her?

The Leiden Papyrological Institute celebrated its eightieth birthday on Monday 19 January. Its collection of papyri – including paper, potsherds, pieces of wood and even lead – covers the period from 300 B.C. until after 800 A.D. and is entirely of Egyptian origin. The institute’s anniversary is being…

Author: Ilan Manor

After ten years and one day, Leiden Observatory has a new director. As of 1 September, Ignas Snellen will set the course for the astronomical institute. In this interview, you will get to know Ignas. Or at least a little. That is why we gave him five dilemmas and asked the people around him who he really…

Most people talk about truck drivers rather than to them. That’s an error of judgement, says PhD candidate Anke van der Hoeven, who explains why we should be making their lives easier. ‘People just don’t realise it, but they’re an invisible group that keeps the European economy running.’

‘Praesidium Libertatis is a daily responsibility.’ These were the words of Rector Magnificus Carel Stolker on 8 February during the 443rd Dies Natalis of Leiden University. The University needs to pay continuous attention to open debate if it wants to remain a bastion of freedom.

The new academic year is on its way and for most students it takes some getting used to being present at the KOG every day. What about international students? We spoke with three internationals who have been studying at Leiden Law School since this academic year.

Around 50 students have graduated from the new International Bachelor in Psychology (IBP) programme within three years. Inspiring speeches sketched an image of what it is like to study Psychology in an international classroom. Three international pioneers talk about their choices. Lecturer Janice Sandjojo…

International students who have been awarded a LExS scholarship from Leiden University were welcomed in the Academy Building on 5 September. The 50 students were presented with a certificate symbolising their scholarship.

Researchers at the Universities of Amsterdam (Uva) and Leiden together with the Netherlands Cancer Institute and Oncode Institute have received a €10,6 million ERC Synergy Grant to develop innovative therapeutic approaches to target glioblastoma. This is a deadly primary brain tumour for which no curing…

Consumers are encouraged to think of food production and consumption as amoral activities – Michiel Korthals in his book Goed Eten: Filosofie van voeding en landbouw (2019, 353)

Should we ban snack bars from neighbourhoods where residents are overweight or have diabetes? At the Common Sense about Health knowledge festival, scientists, civil servants and other professionals discussed how South Holland can become healthier. The Healthy Society Map makes it clear where there are…

In the largest study of ancient DNA ever conducted, an international team of scientists has revealed the complex story behind one of the defining periods in European prehistory. The study is published this week in the journal Nature.

To stay secure, the transatlantic community must take on emerging and disruptive technologies together.

Mexico is currently facing an unprecedented social and political crisis, with expanding criminal and political violence, rampant impunity and crumbling political institutions. Next to the daily report of anonymous victims of violence, last summer in Central Mexico at least 15 citizens were executed…

As an interdisciplinary institute in the field of Security Studies, the Institute of Security and Global Affairs (ISGA) covers various topics in its research, one of which is the United Nations and the impact of this global organization in the world.

Memory loss and confusion are signs of Alzheimer’s disease. Physicists Serge Rombouts and Martina Huber have developed new methods to help medical science get to the bottom of this insidious disease.

In May and June of 2021, Bachelor 1 and 2 students of the Faculty of Archaeology joined in the excavation at Oss. After the fieldwork itself, a second post-excavations week started in Leiden where each of them participated in small groups conducting archaeological find processing and working on creative…

Kerstin Fischer and Angus Johnston were exchange students in Leiden in 1995. Sparks flew when they met at a Leiden International Student Club party, but then they lost touch. They met again 19 years later and the flame was rekindled. A Leiden love story – with a bit of a delay.

Beatrice Penati is Assistant Professor of History at Nazarbayev University (Astana, Kazakhstan). Dr Penati will deliver a guest lecture on Monday, 10 October and a masterclass on Thursday, 13 October within the Central Asia Initiative at Leiden University.

Leiden’s beadle, Willem van Beelen, is retiring on 29 February. How does he look back on his career and what do those in the know have to say about him?

After two years of corona restrictions, it was ‘back to normal’ in 2022. Migration, elections, the history of slavery, Russia, and Ukraine were much-discussed topics. We compiled an overview of the most-read news items and other events of the past year.

The new SSH labs will offer great opportunities for FSW and FGW staff engaged in experimental research. The labs will be a place of inspiration, not only because of the state-of-the-art equipment, but also as a result of the increased interaction with colleagues in other disciplines.

‘The climate crisis is the greatest threat we face,’ says Leiden University environmental scientist Paul Behrens. ‘And yet, there is hope. In the near future, I think we will wonder why we didn’t make these changes earlier.’

Mark Rutte: an exceptional politician whose time was up. What are the consequences of Rutte’s departure. Experts from Leiden University give their view on this political event.

The new Executive Board of the Institute of Psychology became effective on 1 February 2022. Scientific director Andrea Evers tells us where she gets her energy from.

Originally from Romania, Catalin Popa has been working at our Faculty as a Postdoc for two years now. He is a landscape archaeologist with a deep interest in the role of archaeology in society. “We should also produce a message for non-academics. One that is shaped for people that don’t have the time…

The infection rate is rising again in the Netherlands, which means it may also be rising among Leiden University’s students and staff. How is the University responding? And what dilemmas is it facing? We spoke to our Rector Magnificus, Chief Security Officer and two other administrators.

Researchers using NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope may have detected atmospheric gases surrounding 55 Cancri e, a hot rocky exoplanet 41 light-years from Earth. This is the best evidence to date for the existence of any rocky planet atmosphere outside our solar system.

Faced with warfare on the European continent and growing Sino-American geopolitical disputes, the EU’s rising use of sanctions and attention to economic security call for a better diplomatic understanding of how state-market actor-networks are assets of modern foreign and security policy.

On Tuesday 12 April Angus Mol and Aris Politopoulos have been awarded the fourth LUCAS Publieksprijs.